Detroit is trying to end a ten-year playoff drought. It’s doing so with its captain having requested a trade, no permanent general manager in the building, and a restricted free agent on the blue line still unsigned.

It has not been the offseason anyone in Hockeytown wanted.

The Larkin situation

Dylan Larkin asked to be traded. He also holds a no-trade clause, which means he controls where — and whether — anything happens.

The complication is structural. Steve Yzerman is transitioning to a new role and Detroit hasn’t hired his replacement, so the request sits in limbo without anyone clearly empowered to resolve it.

Fairly or not, Larkin had become the public face of the drought. That makes this both a problem and, potentially, an opportunity: a trade of this size is the kind of move that injects a roster — and a culture — with a jolt it hasn’t had in a decade.

Right now it’s neither. It’s just unresolved.

What Detroit actually did this summer

Viktor Arvidsson signed on July 1 — two years, $10 million, a $5 million cap hit. The 33-year-old scored 25 goals and 54 points in 69 games with Boston last season and brings genuine speed and top-six scoring. He’s expected to slot onto the top line with Larkin and Lucas Raymond, which is its own kind of awkward given the trade request.

Keegan Kolesar arrived from Vegas the same day for a 2027 third-round pick, adding toughness and depth.

Patrick Kane left — for Chicago, on a two-year deal — and James van Riemsdyk departed as well. That’s real veteran skill out the door.

Sebastian Cossa was traded to Utah for the 23rd overall pick, a 23-year-old goaltending prospect with NHL potential deemed expendable.

Simon Edvinsson remains unsigned as a restricted free agent, which is the loose thread most likely to matter on opening night.

The young core is genuinely good

Last season’s fall down the standings was ugly. It also obscured that several players had strong individual years, and that Detroit’s roster is full of young talent with its best hockey ahead.

Under contract: Raymond, Moritz Seider, Edvinsson (pending), Alex DeBrincat, Marco Kasper, Nate Danielson, Michael Brandsegg-Nygard and Axel Sandin Pellikka.

Marco Kasper is the bellwether

Kasper put up 37 points (19 goals, 18 assists) as a rookie in 2024-25 — a legitimate first season.

Then the sophomore year went sideways. He finished with 19 points, just over half his rookie total. The read from most observers wasn’t that he regressed so much as that he was snakebitten for most of the year.

Detroit’s offense struggled badly at five-on-five last season. A Kasper bounce-back is one of the cheapest available fixes, and one of the most likely.

What success looks like

The Red Wings project around $84.4 million in cap hit with roughly $19.6 million in space — meaningful flexibility for a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016.

The optimistic case: a deeper, more balanced lineup pushes Detroit into the playoff hunt. Arvidsson adds scoring to a top six that needed it, Kolesar adds sandpaper, and the young core takes another collective step.

The markers:
– Resolve the Larkin question, in either direction. Limbo is the worst outcome.
– Sign Edvinsson. A young top-four defenseman missing camp is a self-inflicted problem.
– Five-on-five scoring. Last season’s number was the season.
– Kasper’s rebound. Nineteen points from a player who put up 37 as a rookie isn’t a trend, it’s a bad year — unless it happens twice.

Did they do enough? That’s the honest question, and the honest answer is that nobody in Detroit is sure yet.

Detroit Sports Wire covers Red Wings news, schedules and game coverage all season. See the Red Wings schedule for puck drop times and broadcast info.